Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC stated today: “The annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank confirmed what the ITUC and trade unions around the world have been saying for more than two years: The idea that you can create ‘growth through austerity’ is an illusion that has destroyed million of people’s livelihoods.

In meetings held with officials gathering in Tokyo for this weekend’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow urged governments and the international financial institutions (IFIs) to end the disastrous austerity policies which have driven the global economy into a new downturn, and instead to support a jobs- and income-led recovery strategy.